Dementia Carers Count has launched a new Virtual Carers Centre for family and friends who are caring for someone with dementia.

Dementia Carers Count (DCC) supports family carers of people with dementia and, in these most unusual and challenging times, we are working hard to ensure that carers continue to have access to vital resources and services to help them in their caring role. People with dementia and their carers are experiencing increased isolation, and supporting them now is more important than ever. DCC’s key services usually consist largely of our three-day and one-day evidence-based courses, which are delivered face to face with carers. Due to the current situation, we have postponed these until we are sure that it is safe for our participants and for our staff to restart them.

As such, DCC has developed an exciting range of remote and online services, all of which can be found in our new Virtual Carers Centre. Resources currently include videos from professionals and fellow carers, bitesize courses, blogs with tips and advice, and one-to-one calls with our team of experts. We are continually adding to what we can offer, to make the Virtual Carers Centre an invaluable hub for support, both during the current crisis and beyond.

DCC’s Director of Services, Steve Dubbins, said: ‘I am delighted at the quality and breadth of online services that we have been able to produce in such a short period of time. The DCC team has been engaging with our existing network of carers, our Ambassadors and our Carers Advisory Panel, to take advice on what carers really need from an online resource like this and to get it off the ground. I hope that the Virtual Carers Centre will prove to be a vital source of knowledge and support, and we will continue to develop it in line with carers’ changing needs.’